18 December 2007

This is the second installment of the recounting of last weekend. After the long Volunteer Firemen photo tour, we were starving, so we looked for a place that was cheap and abundant. We found a MacNolos. I can't remember when was the last time I couldn't finish my plate clean before that. Exhausted and full, I went back home and collapsed there.

My friend Gabriel called me at 9 PM to go out. Still a bit dizzy I took a shower, and off I went again to meet him and another friend, Mauro (the three of us are the ones going to Neuquén three weeks from now). We went into a noisy bar and just stayed there drinking beer, planning details of the trip, and gradually drifting towards less presentable topics. Considering I'd had more glasses of beer than hours of sleep during the previous 48 hours, I dragged myself back home with remarkable self-confidence. At noon I woke up and packed my gear for the Rosarigasinos photo tour of the Aeroclub Rosario.

I took a bus, fetched Marisa on the way, and we both arrived in Silvia's house. We waited for Lisandro, and then the four of us went on Silvia's car to Alvear, a small town south of Rosario, right next to Villa Gobernador Gálvez. Other people were arriving at the same time; when everybody was there we were 21 (I think) plus several children and two Beagle dogs.

The Aeroclub has a number of small planes and gliders and provides them (for a fee) for short flights over Rosario. I understand that the airplane's flight goes along the coast of the Paraná River, passes over the city center, and continues north until the Rosario–Victoria Bridge; it lasts 20 to 30 minutes. The glider is more dependent on the winds, so the flight path and length varies. The Aeroclub provides the planes and the pilots; the flight you pay after you touch down. You can also practise parachuting.

Most of us thought it a bit expensive for the time spent on the air (either flight was about AR$70; the parachute was more expensive), so we stayed on the ground chatting, sipping mate, eating cake and facturas and cookies, and taking pictures of flying objects of the artificial and natural kinds, of each other, and even of dogs and a toad.

It was a delightful afternoon. It's officially not summer until December 21, but this time of the year is usually much hotter and wetter. This year, however, the weather has stayed comparatively cool. We had more than enough shade, and a nice breeze. As the sun went down it became a little too cool for T-shirts and shorts.

We returned to Rosario with the dusk. Silvia wanted to go have something to eat, or a drink, but it was getting late and the next day was Monday, so I declined. I hate when that has to happen... but hey, this weekend left no space to waste.